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The Studio Review of the Year Challenge

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Welcome to 2017, friends! And what better way to start it off than with a thoughtful, new challenge from The Studio?! Instead of looking forward to the new year ahead, we want you to look
back and reflect on the year you just had. It could be a review of the whole
year, something special or a favorite thing that happened, or maybe, myself included, it's one you would rather forget. Well, maybe I don't want to forget everything about 2016, but it truly was a difficult year for my family and I. The downs far outweighed the ups; and at times, I found it nearly impossible to keep my head above water. No one ever said life was easy; but I truly am reaching for that life preserver as we move into 2017, and that's what I've chosen to document for today's challenge.

I started this page by adhering a large, Cameo-cut heart at an angle and overlapping the bottom and left edges of the gradient, scallop, patterned, paper, base page. I then used an old gift card to apply a little white gesso to the background before watercoloring it in shades of mint, teal, and yellow. Those same colors came back to splatter the page, once my stack of prints were secured with gold-threaded, straight, machine stitching. I then punched the open edge of a kraft envelope, from my stash, with an irregular scallop and created the closure from white, cardstock, 1", punched circles; gold eyelets; and white string, before adhering it over my print stack.

The bottom of the envelop was backed with a wax envelope and topped with my family's 2016 photo, which was matted with white cardstock and had an aqua, "together", cut-apart tab tucked under its bottom left edge.

The top was embellished with the "2016" year, created with Dear, chipboard, letter Thickers...

as well as a leaf die cut, topped with a wood veneer, "together" banner, laced with yellow twine, tied in a bow.

It was crowned with a couple of cut-apart and stamped, in Jet Black ink, phrases.

We'll come back to that envelope at the end of this post; but for now, let's move onto the "The struggle IS REAL" title. It was partially Cameo-cut from a black, text, patterned print and completed with foiled, chipboard, alpha stickers. A couple of stamped, in Jet Black ink, phrases anchor it.

A bird flashcard was tucked under everything, before the actual paint splattering took place. It was then topped with two cut-apart words, as well as a "NEW BEGINNING", chipboard, phrase sticker...

and sandwiched between a coral tag, laced with teal twine, tied in a bow, and my journaling, which reads, It's been a tough year for our family, as proven by the plethora of bills found in the envelope here. But at the end of the day, we always have one another; and there is truly no better place to be. I {heart} these people!

A couple of additional, stamped, in Jet Black ink, phrases ground that journaling.

Another leaf die cut, as well as a pink, ticket strip, was tucked under the left side of everything; and the latter was held in place with a torn length of mint Washi. A happy mix of stamped, chipboard, and puffy stars were scattered throughout the design to complete the look.

Okay, now for the envelope again. It houses printouts of the bills alluded to in my journaling above.

You have until Sunday, February 12, 2017, to link up your takes in the
right-hand column of The Studio blog. I'm so looking forward to seeing what you all cook up! Be sure to stop
by the challenge
link above to see how the rest of my talented team was inspired. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fantastic 2017, friends! Hugs!

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I am a former kindergarten teacher turned wife of 17 years to BJ and stay-at-home, homeschool mommy to three beautiful gifts from God, Ezekiel (15), Adina (10), and Kaden (5). When I'm not taking care of or playing with my family, you can find me cooking, baking, gardening, sewing, and of course, papercrafting. My love for the latter started over fourteen years ago, but my love for creating began before birth. I feel overwhelmingly blessed by all God has given me and know that if I continue to keep my eyes on Him, He'll keep me soaring.

For the Love of Books

Copyright

All images are copyright Jinny Newlin. Shared images are not to be copied, without written consent, and/or used for publications or design contests. If you find yourself inspired, and I hope you do, and would like to share your idea on the internet, please note where you found the original idea. Thanks!